Friday, April 19, 2013

Curandero (2005): Even The Shaman's Magic Can't Save This One...

Review by Marie Robinson

Although this Mexican-made film apparently came out in 2005, it just
hit the shelves here in the States last month. Directed by Eduardo
Rodriguez—but more famously produced and written by Robert
Rodriguez-—Curanderotells the story of a jaded healer and his quest to
help solve a case of ritualistic murder.

Carlos (Carlos Gallardo)
has taken on the profession of his late father of the town curandero,
or spiritual healer/shaman. His father was incredibly respected and revered,
and Carlos (and everyone around him) knows he will never amount to his
legacy. It doesn’t help that Carlos hardly believes in the magic that he
performs on a daily basis; he thinks, rather, that his potions and
spells have a sort of placebo effect on the “cursed”.

One day the
monotony in his life is broken when a super sexy (seriously, does this
outfit comply with dress code?) federal agent, Magdalena (Gizeht
Galatea), shows up at his house requesting the help of his father. After
discovery of Carlos’ father’s death and the strange connection between
the three of them, Carlos reluctantly takes on his role as curandero to
cleanse a crime scene.

A string of brutal and ritualistic murders
have broken out in Mexico City, and the superstitious local police
force (not very professional, if you ask me) are too afraid to enter the
crime scenes without a purification from a curandero.

The two come to
the conclusion that the murders are not acting on behalf of Satanism,
but Mithraism—a very old and very mysterious Roman religion. (They
mention nothing more about it other than it’s name, which is a shame
because it is super interesting. Check it out!)

The deeper they go
into the drug and violence infested underbelly, the more Carlos begins
to doubt himself and the events around him. His father lost his mind to
visions—visions that are beginning to plague him—but Carlos can’t be
sure to blame them on insanity or a horrifying reality.

As much as
I wanted to like this film, it was pretty bad, but it did have
potential! Robert Rodriguez’s familiar, seedy, sexy, and often
ridiculous story was there, but director Eduardo just did not pull it
off. It took itself too seriously, which made the occasional campiness
cheesy and unbearable. The pacing was all off—sometimes rushing past and
other times dragging on a horrendous shoot-out scene—and too many jump
scares dashes any chance at actual suspense or fright.

If the
characters were developed in the script you would never have guessed
because on screen they are dry, stagnant and often toting a single,
universal facial expression. In other words, the acting sucks.

There
were some really beautifully shot scenes, and a wonderful attention to
light but for some reason the sound editing seemed to me to be just
awful. On the DVD I watched there was a dubbed option but I opted for
just English subtitles because I would prefer to hear the actors own
voices, and I think Spanish is a beautiful language. Point being, I
don’t think the sound issues had to do with it being re-recorded for an English-speaking audience because I was listening to the original audio.

I
believe this movie could have been done better; who knows why Robert
Rodriguez couldn’t directed it himself, but if he did I think we would
have a completely different film. The story line was rich enough and
there were details about it that I really loved, such as the bits about
superstition, Mexican spirituality, and the small reference to the
secret, ritualistic religion of Mithraism. On a final note, I’d say that
unless you are as big of a sucker for Satanic stories as I am, you will
find little to enjoy in this film.

3 comments:

Once again FWF has alerted me to a film I'd never heard of! Shame this one didn't do it for you Marie, but I do like the sound of all the elements of Mexican superstition, spirituality and ritualistic religions. And I do love me a good old fashioned Satanic story, too. Your review hasn't got me thinking that I need to rush out and see this, but if I happen across it, I'll give it a whirl. Fanks!

Thanks for the warning, I was curious about this one myself, mainly because Robert Rodriguez's involvement, but it sounds like it didn't amount to much, still, I'd watch it out of curioisity, and as a rental, well, it doesnt cost so much. Thanks for the review!

Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent...

We Wrote That:

*Christine Hadden is the creator, editor, and head writer of the Rondo-nominated blog Fascination with Fear and has been an obsessed horror fan for longer than many of her readers have been alive. She can overlook movie plot holes in exchange for style and atmosphere, rejects both the 3D and found footage phenomenons, values high gore content when done right, always prefers practical effects over CGI, and has an undying love of vampires. She considers Norman Bates her homeboy and claims Jaws as her favorite film. She has written for Fangoria and Paracinema magazines, MoviePilot, and Eli Roth's horror app The Crypt. She enjoys Kentucky bourbon and red, red wine. But not together.

Contributing Writer

*Marie Robinson is an aspiring folklore expert, published writer, and obvious old soul from St. Louis, MO. She considers Roman Polanski one of her favorite directors, The Sentinel among the scariest of films she's seen, and has read both Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James - making her wise beyond her years. In her spare time, she enjoys wandering through misty cemeteries, seeking knowledge and proof of paranormal activity, and prepping her next frightening short story. Besides Fascination with Fear, she contributes to Destroy the Brain and has written for Eli Roth's horror app: The Crypt.